north~eastern china’s fried twisted dough 黑不溜秋的自制东北大麻花 ♪(´ε｀ )

(本人煎炸功夫烂得不行）。。。this is one little snacks that local chinese loves as well, but there are simply too many versions out there… with baking powder, without baking powder, with yeast, without, with baking soda… ٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶ ahhhhhh!!!! further, there are also a few different methods of twisting the dough and shaping it… after reading many recipes and watching videos, i’d decided to adapt 夏茉’s recipe (including proofing and rising time) and 李老师‘s shaping method (only)

Recipe adapted and translated from 夏茉

Ingredients / 用料 

Flour 250g / 面粉250克
Instant dry yeast 5g/发酵粉5克
Sugar 5g / 白糖5克
Egg 1 / 鸡蛋1个
Oil 15g / 油15克
Salt 2g / 盐2克
Baking soda 1.2g / 小苏打1.2克
Water / 水130克

Directions / 麻花的做法
＊Shaping (please refer to above link) / 搓行 (请参考以上李老师视频）

– mix yeast with warm water. then add in egg (with oil previously mixed in it). add in remaining dry ingredients and knead till you get a silky dough
先用温水混合酵母，再加入混合均匀的鸡蛋、油，加入面粉及所有材料，揉成光滑面团

– cover with cling wrap, and allow to proof till double in size
盖上盖子，置于温暖处发酵两倍大

– grease table top with oil and transfer dough onto it. place cling wrap on top of dough and press dough into a big sheet using fingers. allow to rest for 15 mins
面案上涂油，放入面团，上面盖上保鲜膜，用手按压成大片，静置十几分钟

– slice dough into long strips
用刀切成长条

– roll dough into a long rope
用手揉搓成光滑的条状

– roll dough in an anti-clockwise direction, twisting it into a tight rope. then holding both ends of rope, hold it up to allow it to twirl naturally
把粗条朝相反的方向拧，提起两端，自然拧劲儿

– repeat the above process one more time, and holding it up on both ends, tuck one end into the other tightly
再把拧好的劲朝相反的方向拧，提起两端拧起，把一头塞入另一头即成

– cover twisted dough with cling wrap and proof in a warm environment for 35 mins
排入平盘中，盖上保鲜膜，放温暖处二次发酵35分钟

– heat a wok with oil till 150 degrees C, then drop twisted dough into it. you will notice small bubbles forming around dough
锅中油１５０度，下麻花，起小泡

– once dough floats to the surface, fry till both sides are golden brown and remove to cool
麻花浮起后翻动，炸至两面金黄即可

Personal notes:

– i halved the recipe and made about 11 twisted dough. if you look at some other recipes, the sugar used for twisted dough is quite high ~ since my maid has a sweet tooth, i used 35g of sugar for 125g of bread flour
– the width of each dough after slicing is about 0.6cm. Add water very very slowly as i find the water content of this recipe to be a bit high for 麻花
– after first proof, i rested my dough for 30 mins and greased the dough before rolling it out into a rope. i find it much easier to shape this way. in addition, due to the greasing of the dough, it kept my frying oil totally clean after frying the entire batch
– follow the 150 degrees C oil temperature. i tried to act smart by thinking it should be the heat of the oil for frying chinese crullers and ended up with very brown (but very crispy) twisted dough
– from another video i watched, it says that once both sides are golden brown, you should fry the dough for another 1 min and remove immediately

maid was so happy when she realised i was making this for breakfast σ(≧ε≦ｏ)

Pollution index: 3 (Hong Kong)